From Middle English plage , borrowed from Old French plage , from Latin plāga ( “ blow, wound ” ) , from plangō ( “ to strike ” ) . Cognate with Middle Dutch plāghe (> Dutch plaag ), plāghen (> Dutch plagen ); Middle Low German plāge ; Middle High German plāge , pflāge (> German Plage ); plāgen (> German plagen ); Swedish plåga ; French plaie , Occitan plaga . Doublet of plaga . Displaced native Old English wōl .
plague (countable and uncountable , plural plagues )
( often used with the , sometimes capitalized: the Plague ) The bubonic plague , the pestilent disease caused by the virulent bacterium Yersinia pestis .
1722 , Daniel Defoe , A Journal of the Plague Year [1] :It was about the beginning of September, 1664, that I, among the rest of my neighbours, heard in ordinary discourse that the plague was returned again in Holland [ … ] It mattered not from whence it came; but all agreed it was come into Holland again.
( pathology ) An epidemic or pandemic caused by any pestilence , but specifically by the above disease.
A widespread affliction , calamity or destructive influx , especially when seen as divine retribution .
Ten Biblical plagues over Egypt, ranging from locusts to the death of the crown prince, finally forced Pharaoh to let Moses's people go.
c. 1591–1595 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Romeo and Ivliet ”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies [ … ] (First Folio ), London: [ … ] Isaac Iaggard , and Ed[ ward] Blount , published 1623 , →OCLC , [ Act III, scene i] , page 64 :A plague a both the Houſes, I am sped: / Is he gone and hath nothing?
( figurative ) A grave nuisance , whatever greatly irritates .
Bart is an utter plague ; his pranks never cease.
2022 April 30, Joe Biden , 0:36 from the start, in President Biden complete remarks at 2022 White House Correspondents' Dinner (C-SPAN) [2] , Washington, D.C. : C-SPAN , archived from the original on 01 May 2022 :This is the first time a President has attended this dinner in six years. It's understandable- we had a horrible plague , followed by two years of COVID!
( ornithology ) A group of common grackles .
specific disease "the Plague"
Albanian: murtajë (sq) f
Arabic: طَاعُون m ( ṭāʕūn )
Armenian: ժանտախտ (hy) ( žantaxt )
Azerbaijani: taun
Belarusian: чума́ f ( čumá )
Bengali: প্লেগ (bn) ( pleg )
Bulgarian: чума (bg) f ( čuma )
Catalan: pesta (ca) f
Chinese:
Mandarin: 鼠疫 (zh) ( shǔyì )
Czech: mor (cs) m
Danish: pest c
Dutch: pest (nl) f
Esperanto: bubona pesto
Estonian: katk (et)
Faroese: svartideyði m
Finnish: rutto (fi)
French: peste (fr) f
Galician: a praga f , a peste f
Georgian: შავი ჭირი ( šavi č̣iri ) , ჟამი (ka) ( žami )
German: Pest (de) f
Greek: πανώλη (el) f ( panóli ) , πανούκλα (el) f ( panoúkla )
Hebrew: דֶּבֶר (he) m ( déver )
Hindi: प्लेग (hi) m ( pleg ) , ताऊन (hi) m ( tāūn )
Hittite: 𒄭𒅔𒃷 ( ḫinkan )
Hungarian: pestis (hu)
Icelandic: plága f
Ingrian: cuma
Irish: an Phlá Dhubh f , an Phlá Mhór f , Plá bhúbónach f
Italian: peste (it) f
Japanese: ペスト (ja) ( pesuto ) , ( obsolete ) 黒死病 (ja) ( kokushibyō )
Kazakh: оба ( oba )
Korean: 페스트 ( peseuteu )
Kyrgyz: чума ( cuma )
Latvian: mēris m
Lithuanian: maras m
Luxembourgish: Pescht f
Macedonian: чума f ( čuma )
Mongolian: тахал (mn) ( taxal )
Norwegian:
Bokmål: pest m or f
Nynorsk: pest m or f
Occitan: pèsta f
Ottoman Turkish: وبا ( veba ) , چوما ( çuma ) , یومروجق ( yumrucak ) , طاعون ( taʼun )
Persian: طاعون (fa) ( tâ'un ) , مرگامرگ ( margâmarg )
Piedmontese: pest f
Polish: dżuma (pl) f
Portuguese: peste negra (pt) f , peste bubónica f ( Portugal ) , peste bubônica f ( Brazil ) , peste (pt) f , praga (pt)
Romanian: ciumă (ro) , pestă (ro)
Russian: чума́ (ru) f ( čumá )
Scottish Gaelic: plàigh f
Serbo-Croatian:
Cyrillic: куга f
Roman: kuga (sh) f
Slovak: mor (sk) m
Slovene: kuga (sl) f
Spanish: plaga (es) f , peste (es) f
Swahili: tauni
Swedish: pest (sv) c
Tajik: тоун ( toun ) , вабо ( vabo )
Tatar: чума ( çuma )
Thai: กาฬโรค (th) ( gaan-lá-rôok )
Turkish: veba (tr)
Turkmen: gyrgyn
Ukrainian: чума́ ( čumá ) , джу́ма (uk) f ( džúma ) ( dated )
Urdu: طاعون ( tā'ūn )
Uyghur: ۋابا ( waba ) , چۇما ( chuma )
Uzbek: toun (uz) , chuma (uz) , vabo (uz) , oʻlat (uz)
Vietnamese: dịch hạch (vi)
Welsh: pla du m , haint y nodau f , plag m
Yiddish: פּעסט f ( Pest )
an epidemic or pandemic caused by any pestilence
Armenian: ժանտախտ (hy) ( žantaxt ) , ժանտամահ (hy) ( žantamah )
Azerbaijani: qırğın
Belarusian: мор m ( mor )
Bulgarian: мор (bg) m ( mor )
Catalan: pesta (ca) f , plaga (ca) f
Chinese:
Mandarin: 瘟疫 (zh) ( wēnyì ) , 疫癘 / 疫疠 (zh) ( yìlì )
Dutch: pest (nl) , plaag (nl)
Esperanto: pesto
Estonian: rändtaud
Faroese: pest f , pestur m
Finnish: kulkutauti (fi)
French: peste (fr) f
Galician: praga (gl) f
Georgian: ჭირი ( č̣iri )
German: Plage (de) f , Seuche (de) f
Greek: πανδημία (el) f ( pandimía ) , λοιμός (el) m ( loimós ) , επιδημία (el) f ( epidimía )
Ancient: λοιμός m ( loimós )
Hebrew: מַגֵּפָה (he) f ( magefá )
Hungarian: járvány (hu)
Icelandic: plága f
Irish: plá f
Italian: pestilenza (it) f
Japanese: 疫病 (ja) ( ekibyō ) , 疫癘 ( ekirei ) , 伝染病 (ja) ( densenbyō ) , 感染症 (ja) ( kansenshō )
Khmer: ប៉េស្ត (km) ( peeh ) , ពិសឆ្លង ( pɨh clɑɑŋ ) , រោគពិស ( rook pɨh )
Korean: please add this translation if you can
Latin: pestis f , luēs f , clades f
Latvian: sērga f
Macedonian: помор m ( pomor ) , епидемија f ( epidemija ) , мор m ( mor )
Maori: urutā , mate urutā
Mongolian: тахал (mn) ( taxal )
Norman: mouôthinne f
Norwegian:
Bokmål: pest m or f , pestepidemi m
Nynorsk: pest m or f , pestepidemi m
Occitan: pèsta f
Old English: wōl m
Ottoman Turkish: طاعون ( taʼun )
Piedmontese: please add this translation if you can
Polish: plaga (pl) f
Portuguese: praga (pt) f , peste (pt) f
Romanian: ciumă (ro) f , pestă (ro) f
Russian: мор (ru) m ( mor ) , чума́ (ru) f ( čumá ) , эпиде́мия (ru) f ( epidémija ) , , пове́трие (ru) n ( povétrije )
Scottish Gaelic: plàigh f
Serbo-Croatian: epidemija (sh)
Spanish: plaga (es) f
Tagalog: salot (tl)
Thai: please add this translation if you can
Ukrainian: мір (uk) m ( mir ) , мертвя́чка f ( mertvjáčka ) , чума́ f ( čumá )
Vietnamese: đại dịch (vi) , bệnh dịch
Welsh: pla m
Yiddish: מגפה f ( mageyfe )
widespread affliction, calamity
Armenian: աղետ (hy) ( aġet ) , դժվախտություն ( džvaxtutʻyun ) , պատուհաս (hy) ( patuhas ) , պատիժ (hy) ( patiž )
Basque: izurrite
Bulgarian: бедствие (bg) n ( bedstvie )
Catalan: plaga (ca) f
Danish: plage (da) c , pestilens c
Dutch: pest (nl) , plaag (nl)
Esperanto: plago (eo)
Estonian: katk (et)
Faroese: plága f
Finnish: vitsaus (fi)
French: fléau (fr) m , plaie (fr) f , calamité (fr) f
Galician: praga (gl) f
German: Plage (de) f , Geißel (de) f ( exalted )
Greek: μάστιγα (el) f ( mástiga ) , πληγή (el) f ( pligí )
Ancient Greek: μάστιξ f ( mástix )
Hebrew: מַכָּה (he) f ( makká )
Hungarian: csapás (hu)
Irish: plá f
Italian: piaga (it) f , calamità (it) f
Japanese: 伝染 (ja) ( でんせん, densen ) , 大量発生 ( たいりょうはっせい, tairyōhassei )
Macedonian: беда f ( beda ) , напаст f ( napast )
Norwegian:
Bokmål: farsott (no) m or f
Occitan: pèsta f , plaga (oc) f
Old English: wōl m
Persian: بلا (fa) ( balâ )
Polish: mangina f
Portuguese: praga (pt) f , peste (pt) f
Russian: бе́дствие (ru) n ( bédstvije ) , беда́ (ru) f ( bedá ) , напа́сть (ru) f ( napástʹ ) , наше́ствие (ru) n ( našéstvije ) , бич (ru) m ( bič ) , казнь (ru) f ( kaznʹ ) ( biblical )
Volapük: tomod
Welsh: plag m
a nuisance
Bulgarian: неприятност (bg) f ( neprijatnost )
Catalan: plaga (ca) f
Dutch: pest (nl) , ellende (nl) , kwelling (nl)
Faroese: plága f
Finnish: riesa (fi)
French: plaie (fr) f , calamité (fr) f
Galician: praga (gl) f
German: Plage (de) , Quälgeist (de) m ( child ) , Übel (de) n
Italian: piaga (it) f
Japanese: 悩みの種 ( なやみのたね, nayami no tane ) , 厄介 (ja) ( やっかい, yakkai )
Macedonian: напаст f ( napast )
Occitan: pèsta f , plaga (oc) f
Portuguese: incómodo (pt) ( Portugal ) , incômodo (pt) m ( Brazil ) , peste (pt) f
Scottish Gaelic: plàigh f
Spanish: plaga (es) f
Welsh: pla m , plag m
Translations to be checked
plague (third-person singular simple present plagues , present participle plaguing , simple past and past participle plagued )
( transitive ) To harass , pester or annoy someone persistently or incessantly .
1837 , L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon ], “Chapter XXVI. Lady Marchmont to Sir Jasper Meredith.”, in Ethel Churchill: Or, The Two Brides. [ … ] , volume I, London: Henry Colburn , [ … ] , →OCLC , page 238 :"Moreover," replied Congreve, "it was a sort of flattery to the duke. It showed that she valued the power of plaguing him more than her own fairest ornament. Flattery is the real secret by which a woman keeps her lover."
2018 February, Robert Draper , “They are Watching You—and Everything Else on the Planet: Technology and Our Increasing Demand for Security have Put Us All under Surveillance. Is Privacy Becoming just a Memory?”, in National Geographic [3] , Washington, D.C.: National Geographic Society , →ISSN , →OCLC , archived from the original on 14 June 2018 :[W]hat we have here, they believe, are two members of gangs that have been plaguing Islington for more than a year. They snatch smartphones from pedestrians, then sell the items on the black market.
2015 April 15, Jonathan Martin, “For a Clinton, It’s Not Hard to Be Humble in an Effort to Regain Power”, in The New York Times [4] :Just as Mr. Clinton began a comeback with a down-home plea for forgiveness, Mrs. Clinton now seems determined to prove, perhaps to the point of overcompensation, that she will not repeat the mistakes that plagued her 2008 campaign.
( transitive ) To afflict with a disease or other calamity.
Natural catastrophes plagued the colonists till they abandoned the pestilent marshland.
to harass
Bulgarian: тормозя (bg) ( tormozja )
Dutch: kwellen (nl) , pesten (nl)
Finnish: kiusata (fi) , vaivata (fi)
French: affliger (fr)
German: zusetzen (de)
Italian: affliggere (it) , molestare (it) , tormentare (it)
Japanese: 悩ます (ja) ( なやます , nayamasu)
Maori: mui , pōrearea
Portuguese: incomodar (pt) , atormentar (pt)
Spanish: plagar (es) , molestar (es) , atormentar (es) , asaetear (es)
to afflict with disease or calamity
plague
inflection of plagar :
first / third-person singular present subjunctive
third-person singular imperative